February 2008

FEATURED SPEC
Paradise Valley Livable Luxury
Calvis Wyant is proud to introduce a new floor plan for this spectacular estate in the heart of Paradise Valley, located just off Tatum and Lincoln. With over 7,000 sq ft of livable luxury, this beautiful home is a timeless blend of classic finishes, quality materials and impeccable workmanship.



Enjoy dramatic mountain views from the ramada with fireplace & BBQ or the pool with swim-up bar. Other special features include:

• 5 Bedrooms
• Attached Guest Casita w/ Living Room & Kitchenette
• 5 Bathrooms
• 2 Powder Rooms
• Breakfast Nook
• Wine Room
• Exercise Room in Master Suite
• Fireplaces in Courtyard and Ramada
• Kids' Retreat
• 4-Car Garage

Download Brochure >
Visit Website for More Detail >

This is a home that was built by Calvis Wyant in 2002, and is currently for sale at a great price.

• 4 bedrooms / 4.5 Bathrooms
• Golf Course Lot
• 6055 sq. ft.
• Venetian plaster, travertine & wood flooring
• 1,000 bottle wine cellar
• Library
• Game Room
• Stunning mountain views by day and city lights by night
  

Call Tony for more details!

This isn’t just any home...it’s yours. It should enhance your life and, at the same time, be competitive for resale in the future. It must look stunning, but follow – not fight - the surrounding landscape, too.

Calvis Wyant understands that your home is an investment as well as where you live.

The couple sitting in our office was very much like the majority of our clients: successful in their field of endeavor, very reasonable and intelligent.    They had planned for years to build a home suited to their family and the  important  things  in their lives. They'd hired an architect and an interior designer who created a wonderful plan. The architect and designer had been given the budget and the design accommodated the owners’ list of needs and wants. Everything was going  great until the builders got involved and the prices came in higher than expected. And each builder the couple interviewed had questions about construction techniques, specifications, finishes, and "something-doesn't-seem-to-line-up-with-something-else" type plan queries. It was confusing to the owners and the bids were done so differently that they didn’t really lend themselves to "apples–to-apples" comparison. An additional concern was the numerous minor details that were to be handled "in the field.” These relatively minor items were either not mentioned  at all  in the plans  or were noted as “TBD”-to be determined later. Who was supposed to make sure that those things didn't get missed ? Were the owners going to have to be available every day during construction to answer questions?

All of the builders had ideas about how to save costs and the owners were in favor of some of the suggested changes. However, any significant savings would require more architectural fees since the plans would have to be changed.
Also, the project would be further delayed while the new plans were being reviewed by the HOA and the city planning department.

Unfortunately, the scenario above happens so often that we  can generally tell the story to a prospective client  before they tell  us. The project changes from an exciting endeavor for husband and wife into a stress filled endurance test that lasts for the next year or two (and the memories of all the stress last much longer).  Sometimes the house never gets built; it becomes easier to throw away the time and expense to date and go buy a “spec” that's already completed. 
       
So what went wrong? Usually, neither the architect, the designer, nor the builders have done  anything wrong. After 20+ years of building homes, I have found that the majority of people working in this industry genuinely want to do a good job and try to give their clients a good result.   
  
The problem is not the people; it's the lack of a process. The entire pre-construction process needs to be closely managed and the work of all involved thoroughly and repeatedly checked from start to finish. Architectural plans are often 30+ pages and everything on those pages must coordinate and agree.

• Does the landscape plan agree with the grading plan, or will a change that the landscape architect suggested result in a pond on the patio off the master bedroom after a storm?
  
  
• During the design phase, you showed the architect a roof overhang detail that was done with carved rafter tails extending beyond the drip line of the roof above. Later, a builder suggests you could save a lot of money and the annual maintenance cost of refinishing those exposed tails with a slightly different look that you like equally well-you just wish you’d known about it earlier. Now it’s going to take redrawing and another HOA review.
  
  
• After the architect’s plans were completed, you and the interior designer selected a gorgeous door casing to wrap around all of your interior doorways; who’s making sure there’s enough room for the casing to fit when the door opening is very close to an adjacent wall?
  
  
• The mechanical engineer has drawn in an A/C duct that is to be installed in a tight ceiling space exactly where the lighting designer has later specified a recessed can light fixture. You have been planning practically the whole house to showcase a one-of-a-kind bronze sculpture you specifically want to place in that exact spot. No problem, just use a surface mounted fixture-but that’s not the look you wanted and the niche created for the piece isn’t really tall enough to accommodate anything hanging off the ceiling.
  
  
• The civil engineer lowers the height of the roof by sinking the home into the slope to solve a city height requirement interpretation. However, the sewer tap in the street is so shallow that the downstairs baths are no longer high enough to achieve positive fall and a sewage ejector pump system will be needed and room created for it. Also, the structural engineer will need to recalculate the amount of reinforcing needed in the walls below grade since the adjacent grade is higher. Did someone catch all that, or does the builder discover everything later "in the field?î Work stops, and the builder requests a change order for the extra costs.

Rocket science? Perhaps not (except maybe for some of the engineering involved,) but it is a huge communication, logistics and management task. The various designers, consultants and reviewers working on the project's plans have good intentions, but a formal pre-construction management system should be in place from the first day to coordinate all of their efforts. Be sure that someone has taken responsibility for managing the process on your project, someone who knows what has to come next and has the experience to recognize and avoid potential problems. It's much cheaper and easier and a lot less stress for everyone involved.
           
Follow this link to see some preconstruction process ideas we use on our projects…